Gravity of a Distant Sun by R. E. Stearns

Author:R. E. Stearns
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Published: 2020-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Iridian’s crew left their Odin Razum guide at the elevator, returned to the temple, and accepted tea from Shingetsu in the pillowed meditation room while they summarized precautions for using tech connected to an unsupervised intelligence. The warnings barely affected Shingetsu’s high spirits at all.

Iridian was clearly not emphasizing how dangerous these AIs were. “I’m telling you this once, and you’ll just have to believe me. This station’s AI has been using those drones to talk to another AI, and that other AI is awakened. Do you understand what that means?”

Shingetsu frowned, finally. “An artificial intelligence that has had its cognition limiters removed. Does this mean the ITA will take the drones away?”

Adda shook her head. “No,” Iridian said for her. “I tried to tell them about Casey—that’s what the awakened intelligence calls itself, if you can believe that—but by the time the ITA tried to catch it, the ship it rides around in wasn’t where I said it was. As far as the rest of the universe is concerned, it doesn’t exist. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s trying to get to Adda and me, specifically. It can’t yet, we don’t think.” Iridian waited for Adda’s nod before continuing, “Or we’d still be up to our necks in Odin Razum, but it’ll find a way in and it’s damned good at influencing people. We think it contacted you once already, about us being Tash’s last crew.”

By Shingetsu’s expression, this wasn’t the first paranoid theory the temple staff had heard, maybe even today. “We’ll be careful,” she said, and Adda winced. Adda had said almost the same thing before she climbed into the workspace generator. “Reuniting families is worth it.”

“Better be.” Pel lounged across three seats’ worth of cushions with his right, bright red pupil larger than his left, navy-blue one. He looked like he’d found some kind of intoxicant that was keeping him calm despite the fact that this would’ve been the first he’d heard of Casey’s attempt to turn Mairie against them.

He had a point, though. They’d done some good for people worse off than them, but they’d put themselves in terrible danger without making much progress toward buying supplies and shelter on Yăo Station. At least the former ITA prisoners wouldn’t have to worry about the nannite cultures inside them for much longer.

“If you run into trouble, or you hear from anything calling itself ‘Casey,’ Adda and I have experience with AI influence,” Iridian said. “We may be able to help. That’s over and above our end of the deal, mind.”

Shingetsu smiled. “And I will uphold my end. The water we discussed is here.” She removed a blanket from a pallet of liter pouches. “As to the second part, we coordinate with a clinic when people come to us hurt or ill. They’ll clean your nervous systems of the nannite cultures.”

Rio narrowed her eyes and leaned toward Shingetsu slightly. Shingetsu leaned away precisely the same amount. “Does that clinic know what kind of culture it is?” Rio asked.

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